Patent Law

USPTO Launches New Child Innovation PSA Series

Posted on August 01, 2008
The USPTO recently announced that it has partnered with the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation (NIHFF), The Advertising Council, and the boutique advertising agency Publicis & Hal Riney to prepare and launch a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to target children and hopefully inspire them to be the next generation of innovators...

USPTO Introducing Functionality to Update Practitioner Information Online

Posted on July 29, 2008
The USPTO recently announced that it will be introducing functionality through its website to allow registered practitioners to update their personal information as it appears within the USPTO interface. According to the USPTO announcement (link below), ?Allowing practitioners to maintain and update their own telephone number, postal and e-mail addresses will eliminate delays and processing errors in updating information, reduce losses caused by mailings made to obsolete addresses, and ensure prompt receipt of critical communications from [the Office of Enrollment and Discipline]...

USPTO Addresses Foreign Preparation of U.S. Patent Applications

Posted on July 24, 2008
In yesterday?s Federal Register (excerpt link below), the USPTO formally addressed the topic of whether or not applicants may use foreign law firms or service provider companies for the preparation of patent applications to be filed within the United States...

Peer Review Pilot Program to Continue

Posted on July 22, 2008
Last week the USPTO announced that it will continue and expand its Peer Review Pilot program, allowing a broader scope of applications to be considered. This program has existed for just over a year and allows the public to review published applications (from applicants participating in the program) within specific classes and subclasses, allowing the public to submit technical references and comments regarding why the references should be considered during prosecution...

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Ebay Overcomes Tiffany?s Trademark Challenge

Posted on July 16, 2008
In a recent decision to a case filed by Tiffany & Co. four years ago, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Ebay Inc. was not liable for the sale of counterfeit Tiffany?s products on its website. In a 66 page decision (link below), Judge Richard Sullivan held that Tiffany?s failed to satisfy its burden on all asserted claims, namely direct and contributory trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, and direct and contributory trademark dilution, which were asserted because ?eBay facilitated and allowed [ ] counterfeit items to be sold on its website...

WIPO Symposium to Discuss Life Sciences MEAs

Posted on July 14, 2008
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently announced that it will be holding a symposium as part of its Life Sciences Program to ?explore intellectual property (IP) rights and their role in the development and transfer of technologies within the context of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)...

U.S. Copyright Office Implements Online Copyright Application System

Posted on July 10, 2008
The U.S. Copyright Office recently implemented its Electronic Copyright Office ("eCO") Online System to allow users to file online copyright applications. As noted by the Copyright Office (link below), online filing allows filers to save $10 per application (noting that the standard $45 fee is reduced to $35 for online filing), also providing for faster application processing times and online status tracking...

Scrabble vs. Scrabulous

Posted on July 08, 2008
Scrabulous, the popular online game accessible via Facebook, is set to be replaced by an online version of Scrabble. Electronic Arts, the owner of the digital rights to Hasbro?s Scrabble, challenged the legality of Scrabulous earlier this year, claiming that Scrabulous infringes on the Scrabble trademarks...

EPO Hosting ?Growth Markets? IP Seminar

Posted on July 07, 2008
In a recent announcement, the European Patent Office (EPO) announced that it will be hosting a two-day conference to discuss intellectual property (IP) protection in growing markets. This seminar, entitled "Growing business with IP - winning strategies in emerging markets,? is co-hosted by Boccini University and will be held on July 17th and 18th in Milan, Italy...

USPTO Announces Next Independent Inventors Conference

Posted on July 02, 2008
The USPTO recently announced that its 13th annual Independent Inventors Conference will take place at USPTO headquarters (Alexandria, VA) on August 8 and 9, 2008. In addition to the conference, a pre-conference workshop will also be available the evening of August 7, whereby the public may learn ?about the basics of patents and the importance of intellectual property protection? prior to the two-day conference...

Revised USPTO Fees Effective July 1, 2008

Posted on June 30, 2008
When the USPTO revises its fees from time to time, a common practice of mine is to ?compare? the then-current fee schedule against the announced future fee schedule. The current USPTO fee schedule, with revisions effective May 15, 2008, will soon be replaced with a version with revisions effective tomorrow, July 1, 2008...

USPTO Proposes PCT Fee Increase

Posted on June 26, 2008
As noted within the June 18, 2008 Federal Register, the USPTO is proposing a PCT fee increase ?to recover the estimated average cost to the Office of processing PCT international applications and preparing international search reports and written opinions for PCT international applications...

WIPO to Host IP Office Development Forum

Posted on June 24, 2008
On July 1st and 2nd, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will be hosting an Inter-Regional Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, to assist least-developed countries (LDCs) with building and growing their respective intellectual property (IP) offices...

USPTO Comments on Recent IP Seminar

Posted on June 23, 2008
Last Friday, the USPTO along with the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) held a joint seminar educating Maryland businesses with respect to intellectual property (IP) protection and the ?growing threats of counterfeiting and piracy.? According to the USPTO announcement (link below), this seminar also ?provid[ed] information on how businesses can protect and enforce their own intellectual property rights in the United States and overseas,? noting that inventors from Maryland obtained over 1,400 U...

USPTO Changing Trademark Grace Period Practice

Posted on June 19, 2008
In a recent announcement, the USPTO notified trademark practitioners that its practice regarding grace periods for certain affidavit and renewal filings will be changed during a test program. Traditionally, if a trademark owner does not file a §8 affidavit or §9 renewal prior to the end of the six-month grace period (re: 15 U...

Blog Vacation - The Daily Dose of IP blog will resume on Thursday, June 19th.

Posted on June 13, 2008
During that time, I will be visiting my grandparents to celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary. Thanks for reading, and if you haven't already, please sign up for the DDIP e-mail list (see right).

USPTO to Host IP Rights Seminar in Baltimore

Posted on June 12, 2008
Next Friday (June 20th), the USPTO will be hosting its next one-day seminar in Baltimore, Maryland, highlighting ?practical information on how businesses can protect their own intellectual property rights both in the United States and overseas as well as discuss the growing threats of counterfeiting and piracy...

USPTO Publishes New Ex Parte Appeals Rules

Posted on June 10, 2008
Yesterday, the USPTO announced that it will be publishing its ?final rule? in an attempt to ?improve the process of ex parte appeals before the USPTO?s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI)." Some of the new rules include new processes for Examiners to follow, including a requirement that the Examiner provide his or her reasons for rejection earlier in the process, noting that new grounds for rejection will no longer be permitted within the Examiner?s answers to an appellant?s brief...

EPO Updates Board of Appeals Decisions Webpage

Posted on June 09, 2008
The European Patent Office (EPO) recently updated its website to include information regarding its latest Board of Appeals (BOA) decisions. This latest update, posted on June 5th, includes information on the next 127 BOA decisions, including links to the underlying patents and the decisions themselves...

eBay Ordered to Pay Counterfeiting Damages

Posted on June 05, 2008
In a first of its kind ruling in France, eBay, Inc. has been ordered to pay 20,000 Euros (approximately $30,000) in damages to Hermes, a French company that manufactures and distributes high-end luxury consumer goods. At issue were a number of auctions held on eBay, including the sale of two counterfeit Hermes bags for 3,000 Euros, and according to the French court, ?By selling Hermes bags and branded accessories on the eBay...

USPTO Appoints New CAO

Posted on June 03, 2008
According to a recent USPTO press release (link below), Stephen Smith has been appointed as the new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the USPTO. Mr. Smith?s responsibilities shall include leading the Offices of Civil Rights, Human Resources, and Corporate Services groups within the USPTO...

USPTO Hosting Industrial Design Town Hall Meeting

Posted on May 30, 2008
Yesterday, the USPTO announced that it will be holding a town hall meeting on the protection of industrial designs on June 16, 2008, at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. According to the USPTO press release (link below), design patents can offer protection for the appearance, for example, of automobiles, noting that the automotive industry ?invests millions of dollars creating unique and distinctive designs for motor vehicles...

YouTube Case Becoming Increasingly Political?

Posted on May 28, 2008
As you may know, in March of 2007, Viacom, Comedy Partners, and other plaintiffs filed a $1B copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube and Google. In a recently filed ?DEFENDANTS? ANSWER TO FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL,? YouTube not only responded paragraph by paragraph to the amended complaint, but also included a number of statements which have become widely reported...

EPO Announces New China IP Protection Initiative

Posted on May 27, 2008
Last Friday, the European Patent Office (EPO) announced the April launch of a 16M Euro initiative with the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), the Chinese government, and the European Commission. As referenced within the EPO article (link below), ?Although China's legal framework for protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) is now in line with international standards, the actual enforcement of IPR remains a critical issue...

Blog Vacation

Posted on May 20, 2008
I will be taking a "blog vacation" until Tuesday, May 27th, to enjoy May in Indianapolis (the Indy 500 over Memorial Day weekend). Posts on the Daily Dose of IP blog will resume on the 27th. Thank you for visiting and please join the e-mail list for posts direct to your inbox!

Anascape Obtains $21M Patent Infringement Verdict

Posted on May 16, 2008
It was recently announced that Anascape Ltd. obtained a $21M verdict against Nintendo of America Inc. for patent infringement regarding various Nintendo gaming controllers. The lawsuit, filed on July 31, 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Lufkin), alleged infringement of eleven of Anascape?s patents by Microsoft Corp...

USPTO Hosting TOYchallenge

Posted on May 14, 2008
The USPTO recently announced that it will be hosting the 2008 Sally Ride Science TOYchallenge East Coast National Showcase this Saturday, May 17th at the main USPTO campus. According to the USPTO press release (link below), ?[t]he TOYchallenge is a national toy design competition for 5th ? 8th graders designed to introduce girls and boys to engineering...

The World of Patent Infringement is Becoming Flat

Posted on May 13, 2008
By Jay Gordon TaylorJust as competition in the world economy is purportedly becoming flat due to advances in technology as described in Thomas L. Friedman's best selling book, The World is Flat, the law of patent infringement is likewise becoming flat due to internet technology...

Judgment Issued Against TorrentSpy

Posted on May 08, 2008
In a judgment issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on Monday, a half dozen television and movie studios were awarded nearly $111M against the now-defunct file sharing service TorrentSpy. As reported within the Wired article (link below), ?TorrentSpy, a U...

WIPO Domain Name Resources

Posted on May 07, 2008
I was recently navigating through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website and came across an interesting domain name dispute resolution resource webpage. This webpage (first link below) includes the following subparts with additional information included therein:Resources ? includes domain name resolution resources, frequently asked questions, a country code top level domain (ccTLD) database, internationalized domain name information, a trademark database portal, information on WIPO internet domain name processes, a legal index of WIPO UDRP decisions, and an overview of WIPO panel viewsProcedures ? includes procedural information on generic top level domains (gTLDs), ccTLDs, filing, panelists, fees, and the WIPO guide to the UDRPCases Filed ? includes links to all filed WIPO domain name cases, filing statistics, and search functionality for WIPO UDRP cases (including a legal index)Decisions ? includes links to all WIPO domain name decisions, the ability to subscribe to receive e-mail updates, and search functionality for WIPO UDRP panel decisions (including a legal index)...

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